Many natural and synthetic flavoring oils are liquid combinations of highly volatile organic materials. To stabilize these materials, they are often prepared and used as concentrated aqueous emulsions. Many water-dispersible gums such as gum arabic, gum acacia and gum tragacanth, and modified starch and corn syrups have been used in liquid beverage emulsion and in spray dried foods such as cake mixes and gelatin desserts. Also water-soluble cellulose ethers including carboxymethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose and hydroxyethyl cellulose are effective stabilizers for many aqueous systems. Eagon & Greminger U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,626 describes edible oil emulsions stabilized with a combination of a water-soluble hydroxy-propylmethyl cellulose and propylene glycol.
Because of its surface active properties, film-forming characteristics, and ability to form highly concentrated solutions of moderate viscosity, gum arabic has found extensive use as an emulsifier for flavor oils and as a film-forming protective coating for many spray dried food products. However, the short supply of gum arabic has led to extensive research on synthetic replacements.